Freda releases show book sequel

A SEQUEL detailing the history of agricultural society shows in Dumfries and Galloway has been published. ‘More Old Shows and Extras’, is the follow up to Freda H Hastings’ first book Old Shows and More and continues her deep dive into the region’s agricultural shows from 1910 to 1963. She initially became interested in the subject through her longstanding involvement with Dumfries and Lockerbie Show, of which she was trophy convenor for over a decade. Freda said: “It was the show trophies that we’ve got at moment that started this whole thing, because they have all the names of these bygone societies and shows on them. And no matter who I asked no one seemed to know the history behind them, so this knowledge had left the show and I wanted to bring it back because there’s always a huge number of questions about when did this and that happen, so I set out to bring it all to light.” Like her first book, the sequel is based on many accounts from newspapers of the time and show catalogues. Freda has been working on the follow-up on and off since publishing the first part back in 2022 and has been regularly approached by people asking when it will be released: “I’ve had plenty people ask we when I’d be finishing this one, some of them say they’re not big readers but enjoy what I’ve done and they keep coming back to it, which is a nice compliment. “It took a little bit of time to gather the information on these little societies and find how they did what they did and finding that information through archive newspapers became more difficult as time went on: the older show, it seems the better the reports.” One of Freda’s highlights from this second book is the Highland Shows held in Dumfries in the 1930s and 1950s. She added: “The Highland Shows in Dumfries were really, really interesting, they were large occasions still held at Park Farm. The one in 1954 had two royal visitors over the two days, who arrived by plane and landed at Dumfries’ airport. “That particular show report is an amazing read, some people today will have slight memories of it but not the detail, so the book can help fill in the blanks.” ‘More Old Shows and Extras’ can be purchased from Tarff Valley in Dumfries, and Castle Douglas Market. Photo by Margaret Elliot